Fortunately, we have two computers to do our work with.

[kadioguy]

[My sentences]
a. Fortunately, we have two emulators to test games with.
b. Fortunately, we have two computers to do our work with.
---
Are the prepositions necessary and correct?

 

[jutfrank]

Correct grammatically, yes. Necessary? It depends what you mean. Take the second example: If the computers do the work, don't use the prepositions. If it's you who do the work, then the prepositions are required for the sentence to make sense.

Do you see the difference now?

 

[kadioguy]

Correct grammatically, yes. Necessary? It depends what you mean. Take the second example: If the computers do the work, don't use the prepositions. If it's you who do the work, then the prepositions are required for the sentence to make sense.

Do you see the difference now?

Thank you, jutfrank. I have got it. But why did you use prepositions in the plural? In the second example, there is only one "with", isn't it?

Ah, I think you used prepositions (plural) to refer to the ones in both of my sentences. However, since you clearly pointed out the second example, it would be correct to use preposition (singular). Is that right?

 

[jutfrank]

I should have used the singular, yes. I'll leave the error in place for now.

 

[5jj]

Given that kadioguy asked about two sentences, each containing a preposition, and the wording of his question, 'Are the prepositions necessary and correct?', I think I'd have used the plural 'prepositions'.

 

[jutfrank]

Truth be told, I first wrote the plural prepositions, in reference to the two prepositions in the original post. Later, during the editing of my response, I removed my mention of the 'emulators' sentence, choosing to focus on the 'computers' sentence only. I simply neglected to go back and remove the 's'.

I must have forgotten for a moment how careful one must be when responding to kadioguy questions!